spicer.christopher04@gmail.com
617-832-5010
A stay-at-home dad of three daughters
A human rights activist for 25+ years, I believe human rights must shape the way we talk about infrastructure and equity with budgetary honesty.
If elected, I will support policies for:
Community Schools
* Wraparound supports for students facing food and housing insecurity.
* Promote anti-discrimination trainings and severance for noncompliance.
* Preserve open space at Trum Field and keep community schools.
Welcoming City
*Invest in neighborhood block parties with City liaison and interpretation services.
*Work with business districts to promote winter foodie crawl.
*Integrate language justice in the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD).
BIPOC City Contracts
*Increase contracts with minority-owned and women-owned businesses from 26% to 30% in year one. 35% in year two.
* Safety net for city nonprofits threatened by federal cuts, preserving DEI programs.
* Protecting our neighbors from ICE through concerted citywide nonviolent trainings.
Supportive Housing
*Incentivize new construction to ADA 2010 standards, penalize noncompliance within two years.
*Use Somerville Affordable Housing Trust for direct service to support especially persons ageing in place and extremely low-income.
*Improve grocery access for elders, supplying vouchers;
*build supportive housing, championing missions for the formerly incarcerated, unhoused and survivors of domestic abuse.
*Stem displacement, conditioning upzoning on foundational remediation plans; amend Article 15 of the Somerville Zoning Ordinances (Linkage Zoning) project mitigation contribution for affordable housing; further air-filtration pilot.
It's my fifth year, 1,150 volunteer hours logged in, as Somerville Human Rights Commissioner. I also serve the Attorney General's Anti-Hate/Anti-Bias Task Force.
Dynamic
When the pandemic hit, we ensured the traditional Somerville observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I co-organized the 2021 and 2022 virtual observances. In response to a last minute drop-out, I recruited our excellent keynote.
Intentional
I wrote the 2022 Indigenous People's Day Mayoral Proclamation, and co-organized a 2023 Earth Day event for Elementary children with Aimeé Ledwell a Wampanoag Cultural Educator. The rhythms of the Indigenous Legislative Agenda, and a network of leadership across towns, informed the "Turtle Island Project" I brought to our Capuano Cubs, early learners.
Targeted
As past chair, I have used the investigatory powers to examine the rise of hate incidents and I helped build the membership of the Commission to serve our mandate.
Heat Map of Hate Incidents in Somerville 2017-July 10, 2024
As City Councilor At-Large I will bring my perspective to serve the committee for vulnerable persons.
In Somerville, human rights are the air we breathe. Let's keep it that way.